Summer League #5: Walshtown Wood Tuesday June 10th Results and Report

posted 11 Jun 2014, 09:58 by Elaine Sheridan

In a reversal of fortunes this week when compared to our Ballincollig
event, what started out as a very wet and wild morning transformed into
a glorious mild summer’s evening. As a result all those who made the
journey to Walshtown Wood for the fifth event in the Cork
Orienteering Club summer league got to enjoy some splendid evening
sunshine. It was great to see so many eager to take on the challenge of
this relatively new area and we had another fantastic turnout with 94
participants in action on Tuesday night.

The summer league offers competitors quite a diverse range of
orienteering terrain and of the various forests we frequent during the
summer series Walshtown is one of the few that has an
abundance of runnable forest with such good visibility. This permits
competitors who are confident with their navigation to take direct
routes between controls. Fortunately, for those that appreciate the
support handrails such as paths and forest rides provide the map also
offers alternate routes where these can be utilised. The penalty is
usually a slightly longer route. When traversing the Walshtown
terrain it is important to identify the distinction between a forest
ride and an extraction clearing, the forest rides are marked on the map
but due to the amount of extraction clearings these are not. I’m sure
this might have confused some on the day.

Tuesday night’s Short course comprised a nice loop through the
forest and the course encompassed a pleasant mix of forest trails, rides
and road. The Long course was an altogether different affair, with 21
controls to visit there was really no time for a lapse in concentration
on this course. From the onset competitors were taken into the runnable
forest and had four controls in the western area of the map before
crossing the road for the remaining controls. The heavy showers earlier
in the day left many of the forest rides wet and muddy which was
disappointing for anyone hoping to keep their runners dry! The remnants
from many of the extraction clearings meant that the going was rough at
times and some nimble foot work was required to negotiate ways around
these brashings.

From the post run discussions it seems many got more than they
bargained for on one leg of the long course. As a local dog seemed to
get plenty of exercise chasing and barking after those that decided to
exit the forest and use the road to get from control 13 to 14. Luckily
those that stayed in the forest avoided this scary ordeal. Control 17 in
the very deep pit was another talking point as many began looking for
it too soon and lost precious time as a result. There was really no let
up on the map reading and the decision making throughout the course and
possibly the first occasion when one could switch off and run hard was
en-route to the finish but again that also depended on the route taken.
Those that opted for the forest trail and road could push hard but it
seems that several chose to cut the corner to shorten the route and
remained in the forest.

I think all were in agreement that the planner set great
orienteering courses which maximised the use of SI as well as the
terrain. The variety of short legs combined with numerous changes in
direction and plenty of route choice meant the Long course was a real
test of ones orienteering ability. The demands of the terrain and the
new map meant the overall times were a little longer than usual but I
don’t think anyone objected to getting to enjoy the outdoors for a bit
longer than expected on such a fine evening. So who in the field
responded best to the testing courses and terrain in Walshtown Wood? Did
the navigational requirements reveal any limitations in the
orienteering aptitude of many of our regular podium finishers?

Cillin
Corbett continued were he left off last week and became the first
person to claim back-to-back event wins in the 2014 Summer League. He
set a blistering pace on the Long course punching all 21 controls on the
5.7km course in a very quick time of 32:10. Cillin finished almost four minutes ahead of his nearest contender. If Cillin
continues to display this sort of form he will have no difficulty
defending the Summer League Champion title he won last year. Once again
the battle for the remaining two podium spots was very tightly contested
and Danny O'Hare took the runner-up spot in a time of 36:01 which gave him just 17 seconds to spare over third place finisher John Chandler.

There was no weakness displayed in Deirdre Creedon's navigational skills in Walshtown
Wood and this competence combined with her speed and agility earned her
the honour of being the fastest Lady on the Long course this week. She
completed the challenging course in a time of 43:05. The second quickest
Lady around the Long course was Sharon Lucey who finished
in a time of 48:26. For the second week in a row Elaine Sheridan had to
be content with third place completing the course in a time of 52:28.

On the Short course it was last weeks runner up Sienna Bosonnet
who displayed impressive speed this week and claimed the Short course
event win in the process. She punched all eight controls in a time of
21:48 almost five minutes clear of her nearest rival. However, the
margins between second and third were a good deal narrower with Karen Woulfe taking the runners up spot in a time of 26:45 a mere three seconds in front of third place finisher Caitlin Kelleher.

Well done to all who participated we hope you enjoyed the area. Full individual results with splits are available here.

I hope the six individuals who didn't quite get to complete the Long
course due to encountering the control collectors in the wood weren't
too disheartened on the night. This is after all one of our more
challenging areas.

A few pictures from the event have also been posted on the gallery page of our website, you can check them out here.

Thanks to Aidan Kelleher for planning the event and to
Jim O’Donovan for controlling and organising the event. Thanks also to
Willie Fitzgerald and Liam O’Brien for helping with starts and
registration on the night. We also appreciate the assistance received
from Cillin Corbett and Rob McEvoy with control collection.

Next week’s landscape will be a stark contrast to the Walshtown map as the sixth event in the Summer League will see
us battle each other at the historic setting of James’ Fort, Kinsale. This pentagonal Fort
with its spear shaped earthen Bastions at the corners is surrounded by open hillside. On this exposed area the only place
to shelter from the elements is in the stone tunnels.
These tunnels also provide some convenient route options but remember to
keep your head well down when travelling through them the only
permanent reminder you need of the 2014 Summer League is a league
finishers t-shirt not a nasty gash on your head! Further information on
the location and directions are available here.